WHO DONE IT

North Carolina Man Charged in 1985 Cold Case Murder of Hollywood TV Producer

Barry Crane was beaten and choked to death inside his Los Angeles home in July 1985.

A North Carolina man has been arrested in connection with the death of a well-known Hollywood producer whose case remained unsolved for over 30 years, police said Thursday. Ed Hiatt, 52, has been charged with murder in the death of well-known television director and producer Barry Crane, who was found beaten and choked to death inside his Los Angeles home in July 1985.

Crane, 57, a producer and director who worked on episodes of some of television’s most iconic shows—including The Six Million Dollar Man, Mission: Impossible, Wonder Woman, Dallas, Chips, and The Streets of San Francisco—was found dead by authorities in his garage. His naked body had been wrapped in bed sheets. The case went cold until May 9, 2018, when LAPD detectives ran prints on Crane’s car for the fourth time, determining one of the prints belonged to Hiatt, who would have been 18 at the time of the murder, police said. Hiatt is currently in FBI custody.